MELBOURNE, Australia - Maria Sharapova finished her first match of the year in 55 minutes Monday, cruising to a 6-0, 6-0 win over Olga Puchkova to start proceedings on center court at the Australian Open, showing no signs of trouble with her sore right shoulder.

The No. 2-ranked Sharapova, who lost the final to Victoria Azarenka here last year before going on to win the French Open, faced only two break points in the match, and she saved both of those in the first game.

Then she went on a 12-game roll that earned her a second "double bagel" inside a year.

Sharapova started her run to the French Open title with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Alexandra Caduntu at Roland Garros last year.

But she said the score line wasn't relevant.

"If you win 7-6 in the third, you've still won the match," she said.

Sharapova withdrew from the Brisbane International this month with an injured right collarbone, saying she wanted to concentrate on being fit for the season's first major. She skipped the tournament last year as well before going on to reach the Australian Open final.

Solid game plan

Against Puchkova, she said, "I didn't want to focus on the fact I hadn't played a lot of matches."

Sharapova has a potential third-round match against Venus Williams, who needed just an hour for her opening 6-1, 6-0 win over Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan.

No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska won the last nine games in her opening 7-5, 6-0 victory over Australian wild-card entry Bojana Bobusic, and 2011 U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur beat Chang Kai-chen of Taiwan 7-6 (3), 6-3 to end a run of five losses on home soil.

Williams played with power and determination and took command of the match early with a steady stream of winners and powerful serves.

Venus rising

She skipped last year's Australian Open due to illness and was welcomed with applause as she entered the court. Williams had the biggest jump of any of the top players in 2012, moving from outside the top 100 to finish at No. 24.

The announcer told the crowd as Williams, who has won seven major titles, was warming up on court: "She's back and fiery."

Her younger sister, Serena, was sitting in the crowd with coach Patrick Mouratoglou. Serena is the strong favorite to win the Australian Open, heading into the tournament with 35 wins in her past 36 matches, including titles at Wimbledon, the Olympics and the U.S. Open.